


Cat and Mousetrap

by rivensilk



Series: rangshi/atla wlw week 2020 [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Rise of Kyoshi, The Shadow of Kyoshi
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, One Shot, Rangshi Week 2020, but like 1 percent hurt and 99 percent comfort, more flustered!kyoshi rights, you dont even see the hurt happening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26613901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rivensilk/pseuds/rivensilk
Summary: tumblr user jolks-mahoai said:"I need a fic or a drawing of Rangi letting Kyoshi undo her topknot, letting her hair fall loose and tumble down in beautiful dark waves, and letting Kyoshi’s long, dexterous fingers massage her scalp. Kyoshi also can’t resist kissing Rangi’s hair during the massage session. And Rangi would purr from the loving administrations."aka my original plan for rangshi week hurt/comfort fell through and this is my replacement ;_;
Relationships: Kyoshi/Rangi (Avatar)
Series: rangshi/atla wlw week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1929493
Comments: 21
Kudos: 144





	Cat and Mousetrap

**Author's Note:**

> rangshi week 2020: hurt/comfort + prompt fill for tumblr user jolks-mahoai

“She did what!” Kyoshi shrieked at a pale and sheepish Jinpa then sprinted out of the room. Her long, flying strides took her down corridors she knew by heart, and Kyoshi found herself in front of the infirmary before she could recall what Jinpa had said in preface: _She’s already been tended to._

Kyoshi had immediately noticed the slow, soothing manner of his speech and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. He was talking to her like a child that needed to be goaded into eating their vegetables. “Just spit it out,” Kyoshi said with a sigh as she turned back toward her stack of paperwork. 

A spot of ink was slowly bleeding out over a letter she’d just spent twenty minutes writing because she’d accidentally let her brush hover over the page when she looked up at Jinpa’s entrance. Kyoshi pursed her lips and sighed again before crumpling up the ruined sheet. 

Jinpa, Kirima, Wong, and Rangi had just returned from a mission they’d taken in Kyoshi’s stead. Raiders were cropping up around the Earth Kingdom like weeds. Since they were mostly _daofei_ upstarts who were trying to establish their territory, Kyoshi felt comfortable with letting her team handle the heavy lifting while she had to tend to the diplomatic matters involving the world leaders. 

_For the Avatar’s eyes only_ , Kyoshi read on the back of one of the envelopes. Little did they know that she always shared any problem too big for her to solve with her friends, and their combined advice was often the answer Kyoshi gave in return.

Kyoshi’s eyes drifted over the letter, picking up the keywords that she’d gotten used to over time. _Daofei_ , that was a common one, _rebellion_ , _request for assistance_. Kyoshi continued to read, half-ignoring Jinpa’s odd, placating manner until one of his words stood out to her.

“Wait, say that again?” Kyoshi looked up and pinned Jinpa with a hard look.

Jinpa visibly winced. “I said ‘Rangi sprained her wrist,’ but she’s got it splinted.” 

Kyoshi stiffened in her seat and dropped the brush with a clatter. “Is she okay? How did that happen? Where is she right now?”

“She’s resting up,” Jinpa said. “Maybe you could visit tomorrow-”

“I haven’t seen her in _weeks_ ,” Kyoshi emphasized, rising from her chair, “and she comes back injured. It’s not like I can focus on anything else right now, anyway.”

Jinpa steepled his fingers in front of his mouth and took a deep breath. “Maybe I should have led with this,” he muttered to himself. 

Kyoshi had already taken a step toward the door when she paused and slowly turned back to Jinpa. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Rangi broke her arm,” Jinpa said in a rush. “The non-sprained one, I mean.” With every word, Kyoshi could feel the blood drain out of her face.

“But!” Jinpa continued, clapping his hands together like he’d found good news to tell her. “She did it on purpose.” Kyoshi couldn’t bear to hear any more than that and bolted. 

Kyoshi now dithered at the infirmary door, her heart a jumbled mess of nerves, and she felt like she was on the verge of tears. _Jinpa said she was resting_ , Kyoshi thought as she began to hurry off toward Rangi’s quarters. 

The Firebender wasn’t shy about sharing a room with Kyoshi; they were practically cohabiting after tearing down the remains of the Avatar estate and building up a home from scratch. Kyoshi thought it was prudent for Rangi to have her own space. Rangi said that she was silly and hardly ever used it, adding to the number of guest rooms available in the house.

It was in the same wing as Kyoshi’s room so she ran with wild abandon, startling several of the staff members on her way and almost sending a basket of freshly cleaned towels flying.

Kyoshi got to Rangi’s closed door, and her hands trembled too hard for her to knock. “Rangi?” she settled for saying instead, but her voice also shook. 

“Come in.” The steadiness of Rangi’s reply eased a bit of the tension in Kyoshi’s heart, but she wouldn’t be fully satisfied until she saw Rangi.

Kyoshi opened the door just enough for her to slip inside and closed it behind her with a soft click. Her eyes would take a moment to adjust to the darkness, but Kyoshi could just make out the shape of Rangi tucked into bed, the lump of her legs visible beneath the gray blanket as well as the stark white of the cast on her arm against it. Kyoshi wondered with a flicker of horror if Rangi's legs were broken or sprained too.

“I was wondering how long it would take for you to find me,” Rangi said in the same dry, teasing tone she always took when she was alone with Kyoshi. Her dark bronze eyes gleamed with warmth as she smiled. 

Kyoshi had to choke back a sob. “What happened?” 

Rangi’s expression softened. “Come here,” she said gently. 

Kyoshi stumbled through the unfamiliar room in the dim light as she made her way over. She banged her shin on the table that sat at the foot of the bed, but Kyoshi was numb to the pain and hobbled until she stood next to Rangi.

“I meant _on_ the bed,” Rangi said with a huff of laughter and started to shift over to give Kyoshi space to sit. 

Kyoshi’s open hands fluttered in the air like she wanted to stop her, but Rangi had already moved to the middle of the bed and sat right where the pillows met. Reluctantly, Kyoshi dropped down next to her. Up close, she could see the splint around Rangi’s other wrist, and the confirmation that the love of her life had gotten injured without her there to help had Kyoshi’s breath quickening with panic.

“Kyoshi.” Rangi’s fingers brushed the side of her face, and Kyoshi’s eyes involuntarily fluttered shut as she sunk into the warmth. But her eyes snapped open when she realized that Rangi had brought up her arm to touch her.

“Should you really be moving that?” Kyoshi asked, eyeing the cumbersome-looking splint that covered the lower half of Rangi’s palm up to mid-forearm. 

Rangi shrugged and pressed in closer, pushing her head against Kyoshi until she leaned back against the headboard. “I think it’s fine,” Rangi said as she snuggled up to Kyoshi’s side and settled in. “It’s not like it’s broken.”

“Rangi! But your other arm!”

“But I didn’t move that one, did I?” Rangi shot a fierce, pointed glare at Kyoshi until she got the hint and draped her arm around Rangi’s shoulders. 

“How . . .” Kyoshi was at a loss for words. Rangi’s distinct and uniquely sweet, floral smell was also distracting, and so were the sharp pins in her hair that poked at Kyoshi’s neck. “How does something like that happen?” The specific _that_ in question being spraining one arm and breaking the other—and apparently the break was on purpose?

“Hm,” Rangi hummed quietly then yawned. “Ask me again later.”

“Can I at least take these out?” Kyoshi gave one of the pins an experimental tug to which Rangi replied with another quiet hum that sounded like a yes. 

Rangi seemed to be falling asleep so Kyoshi worked with her hair as gently as possible. She slid one pin out then the other then placed them on the bedside table with a clatter of metal on wood. Kyoshi peeked down to see if she’d disturbed Rangi, but her eyes were closed. 

Rangi’s bronze eyes were often so intense and piercing that Kyoshi hardly ever got the chance to admire her long, dark lashes. Now that she got the rare chance to stare, Kyoshi had to push past her momentary distraction to remember to undo the rest of Rangi’s top-knot.

All that was left was the cuff of the headpiece, and Kyoshi pulled it off to let the rest of Rangi’s hair fall around her head like streams of glossy, ink-black silk. Kyoshi couldn’t resist running her fingers through it; Rangi’s hair had picked up distinct waves from being bound in a top-knot, and it was delightfully soft. 

Rangi’s floral scent was even stronger now. Kyoshi absentmindedly pressed a kiss to the top of her head and took a deep breath, and Rangi’s frame began to shake lightly where she was pressed against Kyoshi’s body.

It took Kyoshi a moment to realize that Rangi was awake and laughing at her. Guiltily, she drew her hands away.

“Did you just sniff my hair?” 

“I- Yes?” Kyoshi was glad that Rangi couldn’t see her face in their current position because Kyoshi’s blush had spread across her cheeks to her ears and down her neck.

“You can continue,” Rangi said and nudged backward to bump Kyoshi with her head. “I didn’t mind.” 

Kyoshi wasn’t sure if Rangi meant the hair sniffing or the hair touching, but she opted for the safer of the two and pushed her fingers back into Rangi’s dark waves. Rangi gave a low hum of approval. 

An idea struck Kyoshi for a way to keep her hands on Rangi’s hair and to help her relax. Kyoshi put a bit more pressure on her fingertips and began to rub Rangi’s head in slow, even circles, moving from her temples, down the middle and sides, to the back, and up again. 

Rangi hummed again, but it was mixed with such a deep sigh that she almost sounded like she was purring. Kyoshi smiled broadly where Rangi couldn’t see. The Firebender tended to act uncannily cat-like when she put her guard down, and it was perfectly adorable. 

“That feels nice,” Rangi said with her eyes still closed. She was leaning fully against Kyoshi, languid and boneless as Kyoshi’s hands moved over her head.

“Good.” Kyoshi dipped down to place a quick kiss on her hair. Rangi had such a pleasant smell and Kyoshi missed it so desperately during their time apart that she had to give her another. If Kyoshi lingered briefly to breathe her in, Rangi didn’t need to know. 

“Your hair is very soft,” Kyoshi commented as she continued with the scalp massage. 

“That’s because I just washed it.” One of Rangi’s eyes cracked open, then both flitted up to meet Kyoshi’s gaze. Rangi’s coquettish blinks had Kyoshi biting her lip in nervousness. 

“I just realized,” Rangi drawled in her low rasp, “that I’ll need help the next time I wash my hair.”

Kyoshi’s hands froze. _She can’t be asking me, can she?_

“I’m not asking Kirima and certainly not Jinpa or Wong,” Rangi continued. A slow smirk spread across her lips as she took in the clear fluster on Kyoshi’s face. 

“O-okay, I’m happy to lend a hand,” Kyoshi answered too quickly, and her eyes were darting around the room to land on everything but Rangi. 

Rangi raised one of her eyebrows and she leaned almost all the way out of Kyoshi’s hands to better observe Kyoshi’s full expression. “Are you actually nervous?” Without waiting for a reply, Rangi settled back into place and pressed herself into Kyoshi’s hands. So endearingly cat-like.

Kyoshi obediently resumed her gentle ministrations until Rangi added, “Besides, you’ve already seen me in far less.” 

Kyoshi’s hands jerked at the words, and Rangi practically moaned at the increase in pressure. “That’s really nice,” she murmured, leaning as far back as she could and baring the smooth, unblemished plane of her throat. 

Rangi’s eyes were closed and her lips were slightly parted. Kyoshi felt sorely tempted to lean down and kiss her if only the angle was better.

Kyoshi blushed deeply. Rangi was the one who’d come home injured, but somehow, Kyoshi felt like she was the one who’d gotten caught in a trap. 

**Author's Note:**

> my original plan for the hurt/comfort prompt unfortunately did not come to fruition 😔 yes this is pretty much 100% fluff and barely counts 😔 i'm sorry 😔 but i guess this is my first attempt at a prompt fill? might continue working on my original hurt/comfort as well as open up prompt requests after rangshi week 😳 idk if the interest is there but let me know if it is! 👉👈
> 
> \---
> 
> i am open to feedback, and thank you for reading! if you catch a typo or something, let me know and i'll give you an internet cookie. i'm @rivensilk on twitter and @rivensil (no k) on tumblr


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